The invention relates to a package for dispensing products capable of fluid motion, consisting of a container receiving the product, having a closure and a re-usable dispensing facility which features a cap that, after the closure has been opened, can be fitted onto the container in a sealed manner.
A large number of products capable of fluid motion e.g. dry-pourable, liquid and pasty products are today offered in packages from which they can be directly dispensed, dispersed, expressed or sprayed in desired amounts. Examples which may be mentioned are cosmetics, medicaments, foodstuffs and flavouring agents, cleaning and personal health care agents as well as paints and varnishes. Widespread use has been gained in this context by aerosol cans, which are designed as sealed packages of metal or plastic and contain along with the actual consumer product a propellent gas or a gas-generating compound. In many cases use has also been made of dispensing facilities in the form of mechanical spray devices that function after the fashion of a pump, without propellent gas. These are fitted onto the container which consists of glass, plastic or metal. For this purpose, the container has a neck with external thread onto which a spray device cap with internal thread is placed and screwed in a sealed manner onto the container. The spray device has, furthermore, a dip tube which reaches as far as the bottom of the container. By means of a pump which can be operated by the fingers, in particular by the thumb, the liquid is sucked in or forced into the dip tube and fed to the atomization nozzle.
It is furthermore known, in particular for the dispensing of pasty products, to provide the dispensing device, likewise operating in the manner of a pump, as a reusable part and, once a container has been emptied, to screw it onto a new, filled container. In this case, however, there is no atomizing dispensing but a portioned dispensing of the product.
All known packages of the design mentioned above have the disadvantage that at least the container consisting of plastic, metal or glass has a large space requirement in waste disposal and cannot be recycled, or only with considerable effort. The raw materials for the production of such containers are also relatively expensive, or the energy costs necessary for their production are very high.
In the case of complex and expensive spraying instruments e.g. paint and varnish spray guns, it is known (DE-C-35 17 122) to provide the spray device with a receptacle which accommodates a container holding the fluid to be sprayed. The container is in the form of a one-way disposable package of plastic or cardboard. The receptacle features a piercing means with suction bore, and the container inserted in the receptacle in such a way that the piercing means penetrates the end of the container thus allowing the fluid to flow into the spray gun. By this means it is not possible to produce a fluid-tight seal. In another version which enables a tight seal to be formed, the container features at its base a valve of complex design that can be opened by the piercing means of the receptacle. Because of the complex design of the valve, the container is expensive and should therefore be re-usable i.e. refilled, which calls for an appropriate design of the container lid.